Lance's Journal: Lacey Tuttle Loves Racing, Aug. 5

Lacey Tuttle started joining her dad in the racing pits when she was just 13-years-old. Two years later, Lacey traded in her dresses for a fire suit and she's been burnin' up the track ever since.

Lacey has spent the past 5 years proving to the boys that girls do belong in dirt track racing. And the 20-year-old has definitely made her presence known.

Off the track the Elmwood native is shy and reserved but once that engine starts...Look out!

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for 7 months a year, Lacey and her dad Brad travel from Beatrice to Eagle to Greenwood looking to rumble with the boys. Lacey says, "When I put on my helmet I'm just like everybody else I don't want to be treated as a girl."

This rookie-of-the year candidate takes prides in being successful in a traditionally male dominated sport, "It's a growing thing, girls are getting out there and doing it and doing just as good as they can so slowly I think you get more respect as you get in there you have to prove yourself a lot though."

Brad says, "Some guys accept it, some don't. Some of them respect her, some of them think she shouldn't be in a car. I'm just amazed that she can do as good as she can and we're just havin' a lot of fun...a lot of fun."

Always a fan favorite, Lacey says racing fits her body type perfectly, "I'm not very athletic. I'm kind of short and slow so in the car I can be fast."

Drivers can hit 90 miles an hour as they roar down the straightaways at the Beatrice Speedway.

Brad says, "She's always been a quiet, shy type person which really don't fit the personality of gettin in a race car and drivin' as hard as you can and bangin' and beatin' against these guys. It's pretty amazing when she gets in there. I always kind of wondered what she's really thinkin' when she gets that helmet on when she's out there on the track cause she's like a different person."

Lacey says, "You just put the helmet on and you taken on that persona I guess, I don't know the adrenaline and all it just changes I guess. It's a lot of fun, I love it!"

Because her main sponsor Ted Hubbard is very involved with Make-A-Wish, Lacey likes to do anything possible to support the foundation.

And this Friday night at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Lacey is hosting country music singer Jaime Fox in a 7pm concert that she hopes will raise the $7,500 that is needed to make one child's wish come true.

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